1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in techniques for protecting circuits against the damaging effects of electrical transients and, more particularly, to an electrical circuit for overvoltage protection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many types of electrical equipment are susceptible to damage due to transient impulses which exceed a certain maximum voltage. Computers, for instance, are extremely sensitive to such voltage transients. Since voltage transients are caused by such things as lightning strikes, inductive load switching and physical shock to power lines, utility companies which supply electrical power have no practical ways of preventing such occurrences.
Attempts have been made in the past to provide against transient impulse surges over voltage and, for the most part, these attempts have not been completely satisfactory for one or more reasons. Thus, a need has continued to exist for improvements in protection circuits to guard against damage due to over-voltage of transient impulses and the present invention satisfies the aforesaid need in a manner as hereinafter described.